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The Amazing Ways Animals Age

December 10, 2014

Written byCuriosity Staff

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Puppies and kittens: Many wish they could stay tiny, cute and young forever. This becomes especially true when we take into account the often abbreviated lives animals, and pets in particular, live. Yet while some animals have either a defined or flexible lifespan, other species have a few tricks up their sleeves. Take the turtle for example, a creature considered to exhibit a property known as negligible senescence. This means that while most animals die from either old age, injury or disease, the degeneration of cells and tissue that normally lead a species to its natural end of life, essentially slows down enough where turtles stay frozen in time.

But can any species be truly immortal? And why do dogs and cats age in years at a time? Learn more about the amazing science behind how animals age, and how you can tell exactly how old that kitten really is.